Adam Dunbar
Biographic Data
| ID | 660351 |
|---|---|
| NAME | Adam Dunbar |
| GIVEN NAMES | Adam |
| FAMILY NAME | Dunbar |
| SIGNATURE | DUNBAR A |
| AFFILIATIONS | University of Nevada, Reno |
| ORCID | 0000-0002-1560-104X |
| VERIFIED | Yes |
| TOTAL WORKS | 14 |
| TOTAL CITATIONS | 23 |
| AUTHOR COUNT | 14 |
| EDITOR COUNT | 0 |
| FIRST PUBLICATION YEAR | 2016 |
| LATEST PUBLICATION YEAR | 2025 |
| H-INDEX | 3 |
Good Cop, Bad Cop, Black Cop, White Cop
Participants in this study were presented with a police-citizen interaction involving force but the race of the officer and his prior conduct with the community was varied. Findings show that while varying the race of a police officer does not affect participant judgments about the officer’s behavior, his redeemability, nor his punishment, a significant interaction exists for officer race and his conduct record; a Black officer with a history of …
Judges’ Perceptions of Systemic Racism in the Criminal Justice System
Recognition of the causes and consequences of systemic racism, particularly related to the criminal justice system, has increased in recent years, in part because of the Black Lives Matter movement. Awareness of racism and how it intersects with the justice system is a first step to addressing it; thus, it is critical to understand the sentiment of justice employees regarding systemic racism. This content analysis assessed the sentiment of 632 ju…
Cruel and unusual punishment
Despite the ever-growing public discourse on the environment, few have yet to consider public opinions about environmental justice in the context of prisons. In this set of studies, we examined public perceptions of physical and emotional suffering of correctional populations, paying particular attention to whether perceptions differ by types of crime. We also examined perceptions of suffering across correctional and non-correctional communities …
Public perceptions of remote courts and equal access
The pivot to remote hearings and trials ('remote courts') during the COVID-19 pandemic amplified the ongoing debate about the equity and efficacy of court proceedings held over videoconferencing software. Yet, little research has studied public attitudes about remote court despite the relationship between public opinion and court legitimacy. This study helps fill that gap by surveying public attitudes about remote courts, including who prefers re…
Protesting the police
The social movement literature has long recognized a disjunct between how the public evaluates a protest's message and means. Even during times of heightened sympathy for a protest's message – such as occurred following George Floyd's murder – the public can remain critical of a protest movement itself. In this study, we examine the correlates of support for a range of police reforms following the 2020 Black Lives Matter protests. We find that su…
Dialect on Trial
The current study examines the effect of dialect for a Black speaker, paying particular attention to the implications for criminal justice processing. Participants in this study heard an audio clip of a Black man describing his weekend and were randomly assigned to hear the account spoken in African American Vernacular English (AAVE) or Mainstream American English (MAE). For half of each sample, the audio clip was described as an alibi. Participa…
A color-blind Lens
Arguing for Criminal Justice Reform
Across the U.S., policy makers are enacting criminal justice reform while limiting many of those reforms to low-level, non-violent offenders. Given the power the public wields in shaping policy, it is necessary to consider which arguments for reform are most effective and who is viewed as most deserving of those reforms. The current study finds that varying the argument for reform, such as highlighting racial inequities, does not affect support f…
Fear of a Black (and Poor) School
School security and punishment practices have changed throughout the United States since the 1990s. Yet we know little about public support for these practices nor how this support varies when considering different students. The current study uses an experimental approach to assess public preferences for school punishment and security practices and how public opinion relates to student body race and class, as well as attitudes about crime. Result…
Race, police, and the pandemic
As cities and states implement social distancing guidelines to mitigate the effects of COVID-19, one concern is that the social construction of race, and the privileges inherent to those constructions, influence how and when to enforce social distancing. In this theoretical paper, we discuss why Black people may be at a greater risk for police intervention when not abiding by public health guidelines. We also describe the importance of considerin…
Follow the money
Art or Confession
For decades, scholars have studied mechanisms that might explain racial disparities in the criminal justice system. One novel example of a practice that may contribute to continuing disparities is the introduction of defendant-authored rap lyrics as evidence in criminal trials. Across the United States, prosecutors are introducing rap lyrics as confession evidence to establish guilt. Concerns about this practice have been articulated by scholars …
Rap music, race, and perceptions of crime
Scholars who study rap music have long expressed concerns that criticism of the genre is inextricably linked to stereotypes of young Black men in the United States. Yet minimal research has empirically examined how rap music is linked to race in ways that legitimize and maintain anti‐Black attitudes, particularly attitudes related to crime. This article reviews how scholars have typically challenged seemingly racialized concerns about rap music b…
The threatening nature of “rap” music
Rap music has had a contentious relationship with the legal system, including censorship, regulation, and artists being arrested for lewd and profane performances. More recently, rap lyrics have been introduced by prosecutors to establish guilt in criminal trials. Some fear this form of artistic expression will be inappropriately interpreted as literal and threatening, perhaps because of stereotypes. Only a handful of studies have examined whethe…
The threatening nature of “rap” music
Rap music has had a contentious relationship with the legal system, including censorship, regulation, and artists being arrested for lewd and profane performances. More recently, rap lyrics have been introduced by prosecutors to establish guilt in criminal trials. Some fear this form of artistic expression will be inappropriately interpreted as literal and threatening, perhaps because of stereotypes. Only a handful of studies have examined whethe…
Protesting the police
The social movement literature has long recognized a disjunct between how the public evaluates a protest's message and means. Even during times of heightened sympathy for a protest's message – such as occurred following George Floyd's murder – the public can remain critical of a protest movement itself. In this study, we examine the correlates of support for a range of police reforms following the 2020 Black Lives Matter protests. We find that su…
Rap music, race, and perceptions of crime
Scholars who study rap music have long expressed concerns that criticism of the genre is inextricably linked to stereotypes of young Black men in the United States. Yet minimal research has empirically examined how rap music is linked to race in ways that legitimize and maintain anti‐Black attitudes, particularly attitudes related to crime. This article reviews how scholars have typically challenged seemingly racialized concerns about rap music b…
Dialect on Trial
The current study examines the effect of dialect for a Black speaker, paying particular attention to the implications for criminal justice processing. Participants in this study heard an audio clip of a Black man describing his weekend and were randomly assigned to hear the account spoken in African American Vernacular English (AAVE) or Mainstream American English (MAE). For half of each sample, the audio clip was described as an alibi. Participa…
Follow the money
Art or Confession
For decades, scholars have studied mechanisms that might explain racial disparities in the criminal justice system. One novel example of a practice that may contribute to continuing disparities is the introduction of defendant-authored rap lyrics as evidence in criminal trials. Across the United States, prosecutors are introducing rap lyrics as confession evidence to establish guilt. Concerns about this practice have been articulated by scholars …
The threatening nature of “rap” music
Rap music has had a contentious relationship with the legal system, including censorship, regulation, and artists being arrested for lewd and profane performances. More recently, rap lyrics have been introduced by prosecutors to establish guilt in criminal trials. Some fear this form of artistic expression will be inappropriately interpreted as literal and threatening, perhaps because of stereotypes. Only a handful of studies have examined whethe…
Rap music, race, and perceptions of crime
Scholars who study rap music have long expressed concerns that criticism of the genre is inextricably linked to stereotypes of young Black men in the United States. Yet minimal research has empirically examined how rap music is linked to race in ways that legitimize and maintain anti‐Black attitudes, particularly attitudes related to crime. This article reviews how scholars have typically challenged seemingly racialized concerns about rap music b…
Follow the money
Art or Confession
For decades, scholars have studied mechanisms that might explain racial disparities in the criminal justice system. One novel example of a practice that may contribute to continuing disparities is the introduction of defendant-authored rap lyrics as evidence in criminal trials. Across the United States, prosecutors are introducing rap lyrics as confession evidence to establish guilt. Concerns about this practice have been articulated by scholars …
Race, police, and the pandemic
As cities and states implement social distancing guidelines to mitigate the effects of COVID-19, one concern is that the social construction of race, and the privileges inherent to those constructions, influence how and when to enforce social distancing. In this theoretical paper, we discuss why Black people may be at a greater risk for police intervention when not abiding by public health guidelines. We also describe the importance of considerin…
Arguing for Criminal Justice Reform
Across the U.S., policy makers are enacting criminal justice reform while limiting many of those reforms to low-level, non-violent offenders. Given the power the public wields in shaping policy, it is necessary to consider which arguments for reform are most effective and who is viewed as most deserving of those reforms. The current study finds that varying the argument for reform, such as highlighting racial inequities, does not affect support f…
Fear of a Black (and Poor) School
School security and punishment practices have changed throughout the United States since the 1990s. Yet we know little about public support for these practices nor how this support varies when considering different students. The current study uses an experimental approach to assess public preferences for school punishment and security practices and how public opinion relates to student body race and class, as well as attitudes about crime. Result…
A color-blind Lens
Public perceptions of remote courts and equal access
The pivot to remote hearings and trials ('remote courts') during the COVID-19 pandemic amplified the ongoing debate about the equity and efficacy of court proceedings held over videoconferencing software. Yet, little research has studied public attitudes about remote court despite the relationship between public opinion and court legitimacy. This study helps fill that gap by surveying public attitudes about remote courts, including who prefers re…
Protesting the police
The social movement literature has long recognized a disjunct between how the public evaluates a protest's message and means. Even during times of heightened sympathy for a protest's message – such as occurred following George Floyd's murder – the public can remain critical of a protest movement itself. In this study, we examine the correlates of support for a range of police reforms following the 2020 Black Lives Matter protests. We find that su…
Dialect on Trial
The current study examines the effect of dialect for a Black speaker, paying particular attention to the implications for criminal justice processing. Participants in this study heard an audio clip of a Black man describing his weekend and were randomly assigned to hear the account spoken in African American Vernacular English (AAVE) or Mainstream American English (MAE). For half of each sample, the audio clip was described as an alibi. Participa…
Good Cop, Bad Cop, Black Cop, White Cop
Participants in this study were presented with a police-citizen interaction involving force but the race of the officer and his prior conduct with the community was varied. Findings show that while varying the race of a police officer does not affect participant judgments about the officer’s behavior, his redeemability, nor his punishment, a significant interaction exists for officer race and his conduct record; a Black officer with a history of …
Judges’ Perceptions of Systemic Racism in the Criminal Justice System
Recognition of the causes and consequences of systemic racism, particularly related to the criminal justice system, has increased in recent years, in part because of the Black Lives Matter movement. Awareness of racism and how it intersects with the justice system is a first step to addressing it; thus, it is critical to understand the sentiment of justice employees regarding systemic racism. This content analysis assessed the sentiment of 632 ju…
Cruel and unusual punishment
Despite the ever-growing public discourse on the environment, few have yet to consider public opinions about environmental justice in the context of prisons. In this set of studies, we examined public perceptions of physical and emotional suffering of correctional populations, paying particular attention to whether perceptions differ by types of crime. We also examined perceptions of suffering across correctional and non-correctional communities …
Psychology (13 works) · Political science (11 works) · Criminology (10 works) · Law (10 works) · Sociology (10 works) · Social Psychology (9 works) · Perception (6 works) · Crime Patterns and Interventions (5 works) · Criminal justice (5 works) · Law (5 works)